The Best of Reason: The Great American City Upon a Hill Is Always Under Construction
American history is often a story of people leaving to try to build their voluntary utopias.
Reason Podcast
Biden's Messy Mercy
Plus: A listener asks the editors to consider the tradeoffs of involuntary commitments to mental institutions.
The Best of Reason: Everybody Hates Prices
How much should a Wendy's Baconator cost? Elizabeth Warren thinks the government should help decide.
Why Socialists Are Cheering the Death of an Insurance CEO
Plus: A listener asks the editors if libertarians are more prone to believing in conspiracy theories.
Brendan O'Neill: The West Went Insane After October 7
Brendan O’Neill discusses his new book, After the Pogrom: 7 October, Israel and the Crisis of Civilisation.
The Best of Reason: The 2024 Campaign Was an Embarrassment for Elite Media
Journalists increasingly see their job as protecting their preferred candidates, not asking tough questions.
Biden's Final Insult to Our Intelligence
Plus: A listener asks the editors about the libertarian position on doctor-assisted suicide.
Martin Gurri: Political Chaos Brings Colossal Transformation
Former CIA analyst Martin Gurri discusses Donald Trump’s political arc, the rise of populism, and the incoming chaos and transformation we cannot foresee.
The Best of Reason: Abolish the DEA, ICE, and the Small Business Administration
In the Abolish Everything issue, Reason writers make the case for ending the DEA, ICE, the SBA, and everything else.
Trump's Chaos Cabinet
Plus: a listener asks the editors about fluoride in the water supply.
The Best of Reason: Abolish Amtrak, the FDA, and the TSA
In the Abolish Everything issue, Reason writers make the case for ending Amtrak, the FDA, the TSA, and everything else.
How Elon Musk and DOGE Can Deliver on Smaller Government
Plus: a listener asks the editors why it is acceptable to allow unrestricted border crossings into the United States without penalty.
The Best of Reason: Is Being a Mom Bad for Your Career?
A recent study shows that women experience a short-term "motherhood penalty," but their earnings rebound within a decade.
Hyrum and Verlan Lewis: Stop Buying the 'Left v. Right' Myth
Political scientists Hyrum and Verlan Lewis discuss the 2024 election and the power of self-narratives in American politics.
Trump Won. What's Next?
Plus: A listener asks about Trump's early picks for cabinet positions.
The Best of Reason: How the Political Spectrum Turned Inside Out
From 9/11 to the COVID-19 pandemic, crisis moments keep reshaping the political landscape.
Live on Election Night! The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
Reason's Nick Gillespie will be live on election night with Kmele Foster, Allison Schrager, and more special guests.
Live On Election Eve With The Reason Roundtable!
Tune in on November 4 at 6:30 p.m. (EST) on YouTube to hear the four co-hosts' unflinching critiques of the latest in politics, culture, and whatever fresh hell awaits us all.
The Best of Reason: Secession Is Back in Style in Texas
Can't Americans all just get along? Maybe we can't—and perhaps we shouldn't have to.
How Trump and Harris Meaningfully Differ
Plus: A listener asks the editors if there are closet Trump voters within the halls of Reason.
Faisal Saeed Al Mutar: Peace In The Middle East Through Capitalism
The co-founder of Ideas Beyond Borders argues that there is "no better independence than economic independence."
The Best of Reason: Big Pot vs. Big Government in Florida
Mom-and-pop marijuana operations do not exist in Florida. That's by design.
Should We Trust the 2024 Election Polls?
Plus: A listener asks the editors if the prospect of Supreme Court nominations is reason enough to favor Trump over Harris in this year’s presidential election?
The Best of Reason Magazine: How Did Immigration Politics Get So Toxic?
Changing migration patterns, outdated policy tools, and growing presidential power made it inevitable.
Harris and Trump's Terrible Tax Ideas
Plus: How will the editors vote in the presidential election?
Season 2, Episode 6 War on Drugs
Why We Can't Have Nice Things: The War on Drugs
How the FDA and DEA overrule the interests of doctors and patients.
The Best of Reason: Kamala Harris' Freedom Flip-Flop
Harris is running away from her far-left past.
Season 2, Episode 5 Podcasts
Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Dial 'T' for Terrible Telehealth Laws
How restrictions on telemedicine are forcing doctors to choose between following the law and obeying their ethical obligations.
Billy Binion: Civil Liberties Don't Just Belong to the Rich
Reason reporter Billy Binion discusses his coverage of outrageous cases around civil liberties, criminal justice, and government accountability, and the unusual path that led him to journalism.
The Best of Reason: Can This Psychedelic Help Cure Opioid Addiction?
This Kentucky Republican won't stop until he finds a state willing to make legal room for ibogaine, a drug he calls "God's medicine."
Eric Adams and New York City's Corruption Problem
Plus: A listener asks the editors what a “conservatarian” presidential candidate and agenda might look like.
Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Can Mark Cuban Make Prescriptions Affordable Again?
Special interests and government prevent the free market from working the way it should in the healthcare industry, making many Americans poorer and sicker.
Season 2, Episode 4 Podcasts
Why We Can't Have Nice Things: The Case of the 17,000 Missing Kidneys
Also: Could legalizing the sale of kidneys and other organs save lives?
The Best of Reason: These Pro-Lifers Don't Love Abortion Bans
Reason talked with pro-life Americans who are uncomfortable with the post–Roe v. Wade abortion policy landscape.
Get Your Gross Sex Out of My Sick Politics!
Plus: "Black Nazi,” Oprah interviews Kamala, and yet another looming government shutdown.
Season 2, Episode 3 Health Care
Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Permission Slips for Innovation
Part Two: How Certificate of Need laws limit access to health care, and why those rules can be so difficult to dislodge.
The Best of Reason: Should We Blame Fauci for the COVID Pandemic?
America's COVID celebrity is facing scrutiny for funding risky research that may have sparked the pandemic—and for allegedly covering it up.
Why Do They Keep Shooting at Donald Trump?
Plus: A listener asks the editors to ponder which election was the most important one in their lifetimes.
Season 2, Episode 2 Health Care
Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Who Decides What Health Care Is 'Needed'?
Too often, it's government bureaucrats acting under the influence of special interests and against the wishes of doctors and patients, with sometimes tragic results.
Mike Pesca: How NPR Lost Its Way
Former NPR and Slate fixture Mike Pesca discusses media meltdowns, objectivity vs. moral clarity, and whether we are better or worse off now that media gatekeepers have less influence.
The Best of Reason: How Inflation Breaks Our Brains
From salt riots to toilet paper runs, history shows that rising prices make consumers—and voters—grumpy and irrational.
What Libertarians Would Ask Trump and Harris at the Debate
Plus: A listener asks if rebranding tariffs as taxes would make any difference in reducing their appeal to politicians and voters.
Season 2, Episode 1 Free Markets
Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Can Mark Cuban Make Prescriptions Affordable Again?
Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs project brings a bit of free market flair to the health care industry, but the lack of meaningful price signals is only part of the problem.
The Best of Reason: Project 2025 Is No Match for MAGA Dysfunction
Trump promised to hire "only the best people," yet his presidential plans were repeatedly thwarted by his staff. Will a second term be different?
How Should the U.S. Respond to Hamas Executing Americans?
Plus: A listener asks the editors, when it is right to revolt to stop repeated miscarriages of justice?
Season 2 Podcasts
Trailer: Why We Can't Have Nice Things Season 2
A new season brings six new stories about how the government is making Americans poorer and sicker.
Nick Cave: I See the World as 'Systemically Beautiful'
Legendary musician and writer Nick Cave discusses his forthcoming album Wild God, Roger Waters and the BDS movement, and the role of freedom in seeking transcendence.
